26) Environmental Law Flashcards
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
A statute providing for cleanup of inactive waste sites that release hazardous substances into the environment
Superfund
A fund established by CERCLA to provide a source of funds for cleaning up hazardous waste sites; also called the Hazardous Substances Response Fund.
National Contingency Plan (NCP)
Provides a step-by-step procedure that must be followed in carrying out a removal action or remedial action at a site.
Potentially Responsible Party (PRP)
A person covered by the law from whom response costs are sought.
Innocent Landowner Defense
A defense under the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) that covers landowners who obtain contaminated land without knowledge of the contamination.
Natural Resource Damages
An affirmative obligation on federal and state governments to seek to recover damages caused by the release of a hazardous substance.
Brownfields
Former industrial sites in urban communities that have fallen into disuse and decay.
Clean Water Act
A statute whose purpose is to cleanse, maintain, and enhance the quality of the nation’s water resources.
Effluent Standards
Technology-based standards imposed on major industrial sources of water pollution.
Clean Air Act
A statute whose purpose is to cleanse, maintain, and enhance the quality of the nation’s air resources.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
Standards set by the EPA concerning air pollutants.
Criteria Pollutants.
A EPA-promulgated national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), including sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, particulates, and lead.
State Implementation Plans (SIPs)
A plan formulated by a state in order to meet the NAAQS.
Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Regions
Under the 1977 amendments to the Clean Air Act, the air quality control regions that attained national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS).
Indoor Pollution
Pollution within buildings that is recognized as a health problem.
Environmental Tobacco Smoke
Refers to the exposure of smokers and nonsmokers to the unhealthy effects of tobacco smoke in various environments
Sick Building Syndrome
Acute health problems as a result of spending time in a building.
Green Development
A form of development that integrates financial, environmental, and social considerations in projects. (Features can include: energy conservation, minimizing water usage, recycling, etc.)
Smart Growth
A development movement that emphasizes a pedestrian orientation, mixed residential and commercial uses, and protection of the environment.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
A green building rating system created by the US Green Building Council.
